The present invention relates generally to video systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to methods and systems for capturing still images from digital video footage. Merely by way of example, the invention has been applied to a video editing software application running on a personal computer. The methods and techniques can be applied to other applications as well such as video editing software running on a mobile electronic device such as a video camcorder and the like.
Video editing software currently exists that provides a user with a mechanism to transfer video footage from a camcorder to a personal computer and then view the footage on the personal computer. The software provides the functionality of starting and stopping the playback of the video footage. A scroll bar or other type of graphical tool representing a timeline for the video footage is typically used to move to a selected point within the video footage. Some applications offer the ability to move forward or backward by individual frames by selecting frame advance/retreat buttons. When the user reaches the desired frame, the user may capture a still image of the frame, also referred to as a snapshot, from the video footage. A captured image can be stored as an image on the computer's hard drive. The conventional video software may also provide a dialog box that the user can utilize to save the snapshot with a desired file name and/or in a desired folder on the computer.
An example use for a snapshot would be to email highlight pictures from the video. Another use for a snapshot would be to print out the image for display as a traditional photograph suitable for framing. An additional use for a snapshot would be that many digital picture frames can show pictures, but not video. Thus extracting images from video allows a user to then display the extracted images on a medium that would otherwise not accommodate them.
Thus, although conventional video editing software provides the functionality of capturing snapshot images from videos, there exists a need in the art for improved methods and systems for capturing snapshots from video footage.